LG Electronics said Wednesday that it posted 13.49 trillion won ($12.42 billion) in sales and 107.2 billion won in operating profit for the final quarter of last year, boosted by rising sales of smartphones and TVs.

The electronics maker also said that the quarterly operating profit and sales increased 25 percent and 9 percent, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

In total, the company recorded 50.96 trillion won in annual sales and 1.13 trillion won in annual operating profit for 2012, with the operating profit figure tripling since 2011.

Notably, the firm’s mobile communications business unit took in 58.6 billion won in operating profit last year, coming back into the black in annual terms for the first time in three years.

LG also sold up to 8.6 million units of smartphones ― led by models like its latest Optimus G and Optimus Vu 2 ― in the fourth quarter, a 23 percent rise from its smartphone sales from the previous quarter.

The figure also exceeded the total unit sales of feature phones for the first time. Smartphones now make up over 56 percent of LG’s handset portfolio.

“The fourth quarter was a period in which we achieved meaningful results in a number of aspects,” said the company’s chief financial officer Jeong Do-hyun during its earnings conference in Yeouido. “The firm’s smartphones like the flagship Optimus G and the Nexus 4 received positive response, and it was also marked to be the first quarter that the number of smartphone shipments exceeded that of the feature phone.”

As in its home entertainment business unit, it reported record sales of flat-panel TVs ― 9.25 million units in the final quarter.

The price of flat-panel TVs also saw a jump, which resulted in a 17.4 percent sales boost in the firm’s flat-screen TVs from October-December.

“Revenues from 3-D and smart TVs increased with higher unit sales in the U.S., Europe and CIS countries,” its company official said. “The home entertainment company had the strongest quarter of the year in terms of revenue and profitability, but declined somewhat due to lower average selling prices and increased competition.”

The home appliance business unit posted almost flat revenues year-on-year, with sales of 2.94 trillion in the fourth quarter. The air conditioning and energy solutions company reported sales of 682.5 billion won in the fourth quarter, also essentially unchanged on-year.

In the meantime, LG also said it is targeting 53.5 trillion won in yearly sales and 2.5 trillion won in facility investment for 2013.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)